In May 2023, Jesse Malin was walking to his local restaurant in New York when he felt a sharp pain in his upper thigh. He tried to shake it off, but by the end of the night he was lying on the floor as he settled the bill, having suffered a spinal stroke that left him paralysed. It’s been a tough 18 months, but Malin will be back onstage in December to perform a full set at New York’s Beacon Theatre, at a benefit show for his treatment, with special guests including Lucinda Williams and Jakob Dylan. Two London dates follow in May.
“I will be there if I have to swim across the Atlantic,” says Malin. “We can’t reveal the names of the artists yet, but it will be similar to the Beacon, with me doing a set and then the guests.” A lot of those musicians played on recent Malin tribute album Silver Patron Saints, and the range and stature of those involved – Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Susanna Hoffs, Spoon, Dinosaur Jr, Agnostic Front – gives some indication of Malin’s cross-genre appeal. “It’s funny having Lucinda Williams and Rancid on the same record but that’s my world,” he says. “It’s all songs in the end, people who want to sing from their heart with a couple of chords.”
As his friends recorded the songs, they were sent to Malin as he underwent physical therapy in Argentina. He says that gave him a boost, and allowed him to reflect on the warmth and support of a community that has rallied around him. “Jesse Malin is truly a titan of rock’n’ roll in New York,” says Craig Finn, who covers “Death Star” with The Hold Steady on the record, and will appear at the Beacon. “He’s been a beacon of positivity, a musical hero, a fan and a friend to myself and The Hold Steady. I’ve always loved his stories, his songs and his whole thing. We look forward to playing alongside some heavy-hitters to celebrate Jesse’s return to the stage.”
During his recovery, Malin worked on a memoir, which he describes as “like The Basketball Diaries with a guitar”. It covers his time as a pre-teen rocker, having auditioned at CBGB with hardcore band Heart Attack when he was 12. After tiring of scene conventions, Malin formed D Generation before eventually going solo with classic breakthrough album The Fine Art Of Self Destruction in 2002. “[The book] will have the stories I tell on stage, like going to a hooker in Times Square when I was 11 and getting mugged,” says Malin. “There are the characters I have met along the way, but it’s about persevering and making things happen, manifesting things, hopefully with the right sense of humour.”
Malin is a quintessential New Yorker, but the UK has been one of his favourite destinations since The Fine Art… was lauded by British fans. “People didn’t know D Generation in Britain, so I was like a new artist at 33,” he says. “I felt so at home. I’d see the street names and think of songs by The Jam or The Clash or The Kinks. I noticed people came early to shows and bought the records. I found that, with a guitar, I could connect with people even though I was so far from home.” As Malin enthusiastically recalls his life of musical passions, from “Crocodile Rock” to the Ramones, a thought occurs: “You know, when you start talking about music, you forget all about your own problems for a while.”
Silver Patron Saints is out now on Glassnote Records; Jesse Malin and guests play Islington Assembly Hall on May 1 and 2